Lunar Bindings
by Mewtation151
Summary: The world of Remnant has an extremely diverse population. Humans, Faunus, Grimm, surely more that have yet to be discovered. Yet, no one has ever heard so much as a rumor of any creature from Remnant's moon. What if there are other humans up there? What revelations and technologies could they have to which we have no access? Would they be prepared to survive down here, with us...?
1. Prologue - Prophecy

_When pieces of the shattered moon_

 _Gather up in perfect form,_

 _Then shall be the moment soon_

 _When the Celestial Child is born._

 _Through trials, troubles, and come what may,_

 _One moment of truth on the darkest day._

 _Among those present at Child's reception_

 _Will be herald of peace, and herald of death,_

 _Spirits of wisdom, harvest, protection,_

 _Knowledge, compassion, and life's pure breath._

 _One life for all, all lives for one_

 _Even noble deeds cannot be undone._

 _Descendants of honor, lightning, hunters, royalty_

 _Flowers, riches, shadows, and power_

 _Shall friends of the Child be_

 _Up to the final hour._

 _But all alone in the deciding fight_

 _Will be the Child, the brightest light._


	2. Chapter One - Chainslinger

_There it is._

The airbus has a lot of walking space, but I can't tear myself away from the window. I've been sitting in anticipation for at least an hour, waiting to get here. My new home for the next four years, more if I stay after graduation: Beacon Academy.

Beacon is the most prestigious training academy for hunters and huntresses across Remnant. Of course, there are other academies, but Beacon is renowned for having the widest expanse of curriculums to take, and the most powerful graduates.

Based on what I hear from my parents, Headmaster Ozpin is one of the most powerful hunters in the world, and he's super laid back until you intentionally do wrong. Given that I have no plans to do that, I'm looking forward to meeting him.

I stare in wonder at the academy. _It's huge! I wonder how long it'll take for me to memorize the campus layout… or to forget which dorm is mine. Both are equally likely._

I look around the airbus at some of the other new arrivals. A pair of girls, one with short, dark hair and a red cape, the other with flowing golden hair that goes down at least to her knees and a bit too little fabric on her chest, stare out a different window, much like I was doing. A boy, blond and formally dressed, rushes off to the bathroom, where he loses his lunch. _Echoes of regret._

I don't blame him; most of us here are nervous, myself included. The chains on my arms hum lightly, giving me a comforting warmth. _Chemical emotion reading was a nice touch, looking back._

Why do I have chains wrapped around my arms? Well, see, they're my weapon. They—actually, you know what? You'll have to wait until I use them to find out what they do. The anticipation will keep you reading, and by the time you've satisfied that curiosity, you'll have three other things to think about. Funny how I know that, huh? I have it down to a science—wait, airbus landing. Back on track, return to story, reanimate self.

Leaving the airbus, I catch a fragment of the news. Roman something narrowly escapes huntress, or whatever. I don't usually pay attention to the news, thinking that anything important will spread quickly enough to hear about it, but that part stood out to me. _I'll remember that name. Roman._

Goldilocks ditches Red Riding Hood at record speed, and I feel kind of bad for Red. I start to approach her, but not two steps in, someone shoves me aside. I get up to say something, but I don't think the girl would have noticed me; she's shining too brightly. No, wait, that's just the _absurd_ amount of white on her body reflecting sunlight. _I guess they don't call it Beacon for nothing, with these kinds of students._ She's dragging a cart of suitcases, which I would define as lazy, were it not for the sheer amount of them.

I shake my head and continue walking. Onward to an education of killing demon animals!

White stops in front of Red, who flopped on the floor after Goldilocks bailed. They get into some argument that sounds less like an argument and more like a scolding. I pass them without giving them much thought. That is, until I hear an explosion behind me.

I whirl around, seeing Red and White covered in soot, standing on what appears to be a blast mark. _I've been here for two minutes and something already exploded. That something also happened to be a pair of people. I'm not sure I'm ready for this._

I consider asking them if they're okay, but they just go right back to squabbling, White looking angrier than ever. Ignoring them, I keep walking.

In the welcome hall—which is really just a stage with walls around it, no roof or anything—most of Beacon's new and returning students gather in front of the stage, waiting for the Headmaster's greeting. I stand in the back, as I am used to doing.

Maybe five minutes later, a resounding electronic echo fills the room as Headmaster Ozpin walks on stage and starts his speech.

He clears his throat. "I'll keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you are finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy. A need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." He bows his head, then walks off the stage.

His assistant, Professor Goodwitch, steps up to the mic. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

I push off the wall and follow the general movement to the ballroom. That is, until Professor Goodwitch pulls me aside.

"Headmaster Ozpin would like to speak with you."

Despite not even having had time to do something wrong, I instantly get nervous. _Why would the headmaster of Beacon want to talk to me?_ Internalizing the stress her statement brought me, I nod and follow the professor. She takes me to Beacon's central tower and into Ozpin's office. Ozpin is staring out the window behind his desk, sipping a cup of coffee. Professor Goodwitch ushers me forward and into a seat facing Ozpin. She then steps back and remains silent.

"Do you know why you're here?" Ozpin inquires.

"Um, no, sir, I do not. Did I do something wrong?"

"Do you think you have?"

"No, sir."

"Well, as far as I am aware, you are correct. I called you up here for a different matter entirely." _Oh thank god._ "While looking through your application, I noticed that the family name you used is invalid. As far as official records show, there is no living person named 'Kusari Tsuki'. Is there a reason for this?"

"Yes, sir. I have no memory of a family whose name I have the right to use. I have, however, always felt a strong connection to the moon, which is why I signed the application as I did."

"I see. In that case, I have another question: do you know who you are?"

"…I'm sorry, I don't follow."

"It's a complicated question. I don't blame you for not understanding my meaning. Who you are can be defined by a nearly infinite number of things, but only you may choose what you allow to define you. That may be your intelligence, your strength, your attitude, your family, or any other aspect of your life. Whatever it may be, you often cannot choose whether it is part of you. You may only choose whether it defines you. So, knowing this, do you know who you are?"

"Honestly, no. I can call myself a lot of things—fighter, protector, loner, what have you—but none of those things define me. I'm just _me_. I can find no better way to define myself, sir."

"Excellent answer. I look forward to seeing you grow. You are dismissed." He nods to Professor Goodwitch, who escorts me to the ballroom with the other students. A few other students give me curious looks, but go back to whatever they were doing once I make eye contact.

I stroll over to one corner, sitting next to a quiet girl with black hair, adorned with a bow that I _swear_ I saw twitch. She's too engrossed in her book to notice my arrival, so I stay silent, not wanting to interrupt. I lower my head, intending to sleep, but fate had a different idea.

"Hello! I believe you two may know each other?"

I look up to see Goldilocks with Red in tow, presumably talking to the quiet girl.

"Aren't you that girl that exploded?" Quiet asks.

"Uh, yeah. My name's Ruby," Red says, extending her hand. "But you can just call me Crater… actually, you can just call me Ruby."

"…Okay." Quiet chuckles. Ruby and Goldilocks whisper something, then Goldilocks starts speaking.

"So… what's your name?"

"Blake." Quiet sighs.

"Well, Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister!" Goldilocks says, trying to stay excited. It's not very convincing. "I like your bow!"

"Thanks."

"It goes great with your… pajamas!"

"Right…" Blake says, eyes still on her book.

"Nice night, don't you think?" Yang asks.

"Yes. It's _lovely._ Almost as lovely as this book, that I will continue to read." She pauses, waiting for Ruby and Yang to react. When they don't, she adds, "As soon as you leave."

"Yeah, this girl's a lost cause," Yang says to Ruby.

"What's it about?"

Blake looks up at Ruby, surprised. "Huh?"

"Your book. Does it have a name?"

"Well, it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."

"Oh yeah, that's… real lovely." Yang remarks.

"I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters; they're one of the reasons I want to be a huntress."

"Oh, why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?" Blake inquires. She looks brighter, like she's enjoying the conversation.

"Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books: someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

"That's very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

"Well, that's why we're here. To make it better." Ruby finishes. Yang grabs her up in a hug, fully lifting her off the floor. They start play fighting, almost cartoonishly, only stopping when White comes over.

"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?" _I'm with ya, White._

The standing girls start arguing, while Blake just rolls her eyes and blows out her candelabra, shrouding us in shadows. With everyone either asleep or blinded by lack of light, I activate one of the chains on my left arm. It's mostly black, with a spiraling teal trim. _Void._ Void unravels itself from my arm, shrinking into a thick metal bracelet at my wrist.

"Void, hook form." I whisper, barely loud enough for me to hear. A grappling hook sprouts from the bracelet, its ends sticky rather than spiky, and reaches to my hand. I throw the hook to the rafters, chain extending as the hook flies. It latches to the ceiling, pulling me up after it as quietly as possible. It still makes noise, but only enough to catch the attention of anyone fully awake and alert.

Once on the ceiling, I activate my other left hook: Comet. It's a brighter blue, laced with gold, but it's still darker than the other two I have. I slowly swing myself through the rafters, landing and throwing Comet, waiting to release Void until Comet lands. These support beams are thin; my full weight would likely break them, or at least bend them.

I finally get to the ceiling window, after about ten minutes of swinging. I could have gotten there in ten seconds, but with everyone sleeping, it took longer to not wake them up. I push the arc of the window to find that it spins. _Perfect._ I spin it so that it's horizontal, giving me just enough room to climb out onto the roof.

On the roof, I deactivate Void and Comet. They return to their dormant gray state, wrapping back around my arm. I lay down on the shingles, relishing the glow of the moon. It almost feels like the moon watches over me more than anyone else, like I'm special to it, somehow. It's a ridiculous thought, but I humor it a moment. I fall asleep on the roof, calmed by the soft moonlight and cool night breeze.

I wake at the first hint of dawn, the moon's comforting presence all but gone. I crawl back through the window and swing among the rafters, returning to my previous spot in just over a minute. I'm not worried about waking anyone up; they've already started to do that themselves. I go so fast I don't even need to activate my chains, I just swing on the bars like they're on a playground.

Not having an area to clean up, or stuff to put away, I head down to the bathrooms for a shower before breakfast. As I dry myself and redress, a tired boy wearing a green shirt with pink trim and a pink highlight in his black hair walks in, tailed by a bubbly girl wearing what appears to be an armored corset over a white blouse and a pink skirt. The girl is saying something unintelligible, due primarily to the speed at which she says it. The boy, whose name I guess to be Ren, based on the one thing I understood from the girl, seems to barely register that she's talking.

We go to breakfast, where they serve pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, all the standard breakfast items. The girl, Nora, has not stopped talking since she woke up, according to Ren. She's been trying to plan a way to make sure that she and Ren are on the same team.

She keeps talking all the way to the weapons room, where she suggests they signal each other by mimicking a sloth, to which Ren says, "I don't think sloths make a lot of noise." It's the first time Nora stopped talking for longer than two seconds.

I walk out of the weapons room, hearing the Ruby and Yang arguing over something and Jaune, the guy who puked on the airbus, trying, and failing, to flirt with Weiss, a.k.a. White, and Pyrrha Nikos. _Who knew a celebrity went to this school? You learn something new every day…_

"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately." A female voice says over the loudspeakers. Walking out the door, I hear a panicked yell and barely duck under Jaune, flying by with Pyrrha's spear in the hood of his hoodie, pinning him to the wall.

"Girl problems on day one? Impressive." I joke.

"Heh, yeah…" Jaune says, head down.

I shake my head in amusement, then keep going to the Cliff. I hear Weiss and Pyrrha chatting behind me, each hoping to be on the other's team.

At the Cliff, about twenty students line up on tiles decorated with the symbol of Beacon. I stand at the far right of the line, with Jaune to my immediate left. Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch are standing in front of the students, Ozpin holding a cup of coffee, Goodwitch holding a tablet. Ozpin starts his introduction.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams," Goodwitch interjects. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today."

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after you execute your landing strategy will be your partner for the next four years. We have an odd number of students this year, so one person will be without a partner. This, unfortunately, cannot be changed without extra students, so the solo student will simply have to make do. After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." Ozpin resumes.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the Cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

"Um, sir—" Jaune starts.

"Good. Now, take your positions." Ozpin interrupts. I shift into a combat stance, intending to change the stance mid-air.

"Uh, sir? I've got, um, a question." Jaune tries again. The furthest student to the left is launched into the forest, his tile having become a launchpad. "So this 'landing strategy' thing, um, what is it? You're dropping us off, or, something?"

"No. You _will_ be falling." Ozpin answers. _Jaune, buddy, you're in for a world of hurt if you didn't gather that from the students flying through the air._

"Oh, I see… So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"

"No, you will be using your own landing strategy."

"Uh huh. That. So, what exactly _is_ a landing strategy—!" Jaune is cut off by his launchpad activating.

I expect mine to follow his, but it doesn't. "Uh, Headmaster? Is my launchpad broken?"

"No, you were meant to stay here for now. We will have twenty-one students going through initiation, if you join them." He gestures to my falling classmates. "That will leave one person completely alone, without a team, much less a partner. I have a feeling that lone student would be you, would it not?"

"I would try to make it so, yes, sir."

"And if you failed? If someone else became the lone student, what would you do then?"

"Nothing, sir, for that won't happen, whether I'm up here or not. I'm used to being alone, if anything I prefer being alone. I won't let myself have a partner."

"Very well. Glynda, let him go."

"Ozpin, are you sure—" She stops when Ozpin gives her a glance, telling her to just do it.

Just like that, I'm soaring through the sky, albeit a minute or so behind everyone else. I do see a flash of red from Pyrrha throwing her spear, and a very quiet "Thank you!", presumably from Jaune. _You lucky dork, Jaune, you would have died had she not nailed that shot._

As I pass under the canopy, I activate all four chains. Void and Comet on my left arm, Starpiece and Nova on my right. Starpiece is pink with white specks, and Nova is bright orange. They're the brighter half of the chains, as both are light sources. Comet and Void are just reflective, Void significantly less so.

Now unbound by sleeping students, I launch Nova into a tree on my right, swinging on it like a vine. I send Comet into a tree on my left, then use Starpiece, then Void, repeating that pattern until my momentum has slowed completely within my control.

I launch Comet and Void into the same tree on my left, and Starpiece and Void to one on my right. I swing in a circle a couple times, then let myself to the floor. _That should catch me up with everyone else, so I have to be on guard for other students now._

I head straight north, not wanting to stop and wait or search for a partner. After roughly ten minutes of walking, I get to a clearing full of Beowolves and an Ursa. Whereas this would normally not faze me, the clearing being on fire changes that. Now, I'm excited. _A somewhat challenging fight in a flaming arena? Yes, please._

"Nova, Eruption form. Comet, Dragon form." All the chains retreat back into their respective bracelets. The left bracelet glows Comet's blue, the right one Nova's orange. The bracelets then morph into weapons: Comet shifted into a golden staff with a blue orb crested by three gold spikes, while Nova shifted into a thorned whip which appears to be made of churning plasma rather than metal.

I twirl the staff and slam it into the ground, summoning a swirling ball of blue above my head, out of which flies a familiar; a small spectral dragon intent on defending its master. I set the dragon to follow me, guided by the staff. I secure it to my back, the top pointing up, so that the Comet-Dragon hovers above me.

I swing around the whip, using it as a flail-type weapon. It extends at the start of each swing, and retracts at its apex. As such, it is extremely useful when needing to clear a large area of enemies. In this case, Beowolves.

With the first swing, I cleave through seven Beowolves, and scratch the Ursa. Two more swings and the Beowolves are completely gone, leaving just the Ursa. _So much for a challenge. The flames haven't even spread._

"Nova, Comet, disengage." Both weapons return to chain state, allowing me access to the other two chains.

"Starpiece. Blaze form." This time, only my right chains retreat into the bracelet. The bracelet transforms into a white glove with pink fingers and a pink orb on the back. _This would almost be sad, if Grimm had souls._

I walk up to the Ursa confidently, unfazed by its size and vicious roar. I put my hand on its chest, and it looks at me, confused. I would be too, if some puny human walked up to me and put his hand on my demon-bear chest. Fortunately, it doesn't have to wait long to understand why.

Now, before you can know what I do to the poor Grimm, I should explain a bit about how Starpiece and Comet work. First, they don't need an external source of Dust to work. They can use Dust crystals as powerups, but they're not necessary. Second, they revolve around my semblance, which is the ability to create Dust from nothing and infuse it directly into nearly anything, including other types of Dust. Most people can infuse and combine Dust, but only with tools and a massive level of willpower. I can do so without a second thought, and without materializing the Dust first. I can simply empower an item with Dust and it will stay empowered until the Dust is consumed, using only my hand, not even forming a crystal. I am, essentially, the personification of Dust.

Because of my virtually unlimited access to Dust, I've memorized many recipes and mixtures of Dust. Starpiece and Comet are two of those recipes. I'd share the full recipes, but then my weapons could be copied, and I wouldn't seem as cool, so they stay with me. I'll give the basics, though.

Comet is primarily water, with a bit of air and fire mixed in. This allows for reflective properties and flight, but it can still pack a punch with the fire. It's not as draining to use and can be reused a lot without serious repercussion. There are more complicated Dust mixtures used, but, again, I'm selfish and want to keep looking cool.

Starpiece is even more complex. It's primarily fire and earth, but uses a total of twenty-six different Dust types, including all four base elements. Fire and earth are for damaging and moving power, air is for range and weight, and water keeps the flame from going out upon contact with liquids. In Blaze form, it is individually more powerful than any of my other weapon forms.

Nova and Void are different, in that they don't rely on my semblance to be used; using them with my semblance merely provides a power boost, not functionality. It provides a balance: if my semblance were to tire out, or my aura fully deplete, I would be rendered unable to fight if I did not have Nova and Void.

Now that you understand that, you understand just how screwed the Ursa I'm facing is. Starpiece-Blaze pressed to its chest, waiting for my will to decimate the Grimm. In a fiery pink explosion, it does just that. There's hardly anything left to dissolve into the wind.

Now, I know I haven't given you all three things to think about yet. You may think I forgot about what I said earlier, when I first mentioned the chains. See, the thing is, you haven't seen the other forms of Comet, Nova, and Starpiece, and haven't seen any of Void's forms aside from Hook. Technically, I haven't gone back on my word. Also, if you think you know everything about what the weapons could be, you don't. Plain and simple. Inspiration, maybe, but not details.

With the Grimm taken care of, I spread some water energy around the clearing, putting the fire out. _Wouldn't want the whole forest burned down, would we?_

Slightly energized by the skirmish, I trek through the remaining forest area to the temple ruins, where I find a set of chess pieces arranged in a semicircle. Already there are Blake and Yang, the latter of whom is holding a white knight.

A drawn out "Heads up!" from above draws our attention to Ruby, who is, for some reason, falling from the sky. On top of that, Jaune crashes into her from the side, sending them both into a treetop.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asks Yang. Yang's reply is drowned out by Ren and Nora's arrival.

By "arrival", I mean riding in on an Ursa, which explodes in a cloud of lightning, topples over, and reveals Nora and a drained Ren. Nora looks at the dead Ursa, appearing to mourn it for a moment, before running to the relics and grabbing a white rook piece.

Pyrrha then runs into the clearing with a Deathstalker really close behind. Like, she could turn around and spit on it close. _It could grab and kill her what are you doing just staring HELP HER._

I slide down the cliff, vest flapping in the created wind, sprinting at the Deathstalker, not really caring about its armor. I activate Comet-Dragon and have him circle around my head, then activate Nova's Dawn form.

Nova-Dawn is basically a spear with Nova's weapon properties. The special thing about Dawn, however, is that it returns to your hand after you throw it. Not the same Dawn you threw, though; Nova generates a new Dawn each time it leaves your hand. The base of Dawn is a metal grip on my palm, which extends to a full-size Dawn when used in melee combat, and shrinks to grip when thrown. The grip holds tight to my hand, and generates a Dust-only Dawn to throw. **(A/N: Imagine Sun's semblance, but in a weapon; making phantom forms of the weapon with which to attack, rather than phantom people. Best way to explain it, but Kusari hasn't met Sun yet, so he can't tell you himself.)** This means it needs Dust to be thrown, but if I'm out of energy to make Dust and need to fight something with range I always have Eruption.

"Pyrrha! Switch out!" I call to the fleeing champion. I throw Dawn behind her, stunning the Deathstalker for a moment to let her get away. It bounces off, leaving a burn. As Dawn dissolves, the Deathstalker refocuses its attention on me, and I lead it away from the other students. I sprint into the field near the ruins, keeping it in sight and kiting the Deathstalker in a circle. Thing is, giant scorpions with six very long legs are a little faster than small human with two comparatively short legs. The Deathstalker swings its left claw at me, which I would have been able to block had I seen it coming, but I was looking up at a Nevermore passing overhead, carrying Weiss. _Looks like Blake and Yang were the only others that had it easy this far in._

The claw sends me sailing into the ground in front of the other students. I sit up, slightly dazed, but shake it off with a chaotic grin. I hop up, ready to charge back in, when I remember something crucial. _Relics._

I casually wander over to the black king piece, placing it in my inner vest pocket, then zipping the vest. _Wouldn't want that to fall out when fighting, oh, a Deathstalker, maybe?_

Weiss drops from the sky, landing on Jaune, who I'm pretty sure jumped from a tree to catch her. Ruby comes down to join us, making nine.

"Does everyone have a relic?" I ask the group.

Jaune, Ruby, Nora, and Yang show the relics they chose for their pair. I take mine out of my pocket, reveal it, then put it back.

"All we have to do is make it to the cliff alive, and we pass. I don't think that Deathstalker and Nevermore are going to let us do that without a fight. So, who—"

"I've got it!" Ruby exclaims, before bringing out her weapon—a mechanically inclined scythe with a scope, indicating that it's also a gun—and dashing toward the Deathstalker. I say dashing, she really… actually, I'm not sure what she just did. It _looked_ like she morphed inside her hood and flew at the Deathstalker, leaving behind rose petals, but I refuse to accept that I saw that while sober.

Thing is, reality doesn't care whether or not you accept it.

Ruby comes out of her petal blitz swinging her scythe down into the Deathstalker's armor. It bounces off, doing virtually nothing to the scorpion Grimm.

"Get out of there, sis!" Yang yells.

Ruby seems to realize the gravity of the mistake she made, right as the Deathstalker realizes it just got handed a midday snack. It turns to her, and she starts running back to us. Not using her petal blitz, just running. _Interesting how the young mind works._

Now, Ruby is a bit faster than Pyrrha when running. She starts to gain ground on the Deathstalker, but it has a support friend that decided, "Eh, not today."

Nevermore feathers streak down from the sky, spraying the ground with spikes. _Note to self, do not mock demon feathers, they are sharp._ One feather pins Ruby's hood to the ground, stopping her in her tracks. The Deathstalker catches up and raises a claw to crush her.

"RUBY!" Yang cries, moving to help her sister. A white streak zips past her, right to Ruby. A flash of light blue cascades over the clearing, temporarily blinding us. The light soon fades, revealing a monolith of ice trapping the Deathstalker's claw. Weiss faces Ruby, saying something we're too far to hear. She helps Ruby up, and they run back to us.

"We don't need to fight these things. Just get to the cliff as fast as we can, and we pass." Ruby says.

"Right, and the giant Grimm are just going to let us waltz by." I remark.

"We can outrun them." Ruby persists.

"The Deathstalker, sure, but the Nevermore? It's kind of got wings. None of us are faster than that, not to mention the part where we have to scale the cliff. Did none of you look back when you got launched? There's a massive canyon under the cliff, it doesn't level out to the forest. I say we fight them here."

"How would we get the Nevermore from down here? We would need a height advantage." Yang protests.

"Four of you have accurate, reliable guns that shoot high-speed bullets, and three of you have stronger yet slower range-based weapons. You don't need to smack something to hurt it. Just shoot the thing down, get under cover so it can't aim its feathers, you'll be fine."

"Ok, so, that's great and all, but… what do I do in this? I don't really have a gun." Jaune questions.

"Well, you could always try hurting it emotionally. Trash-talking and such." I joke. Apparently, Jaune thinks I was serious.

"Aw, come on man! I can fight!"

"It was a joke. You can fight the Deathstalker with me, or guard the shooters. Your choice."

"I'll… fight… the Deathstalker."

"So who of the rest of us should do what?" Blake inquires. The distant sound of ice shattering signals the Deathstalker breaking free.

"Easy: you guys shoot the Nevermore down, since you have guns, and Jaune and I will keep the Deathstalker busy and off you guys."

"Just the two of you on that thing? You're sure you don't want anyone else's help?"

"We can take Jaune's partner. Three on the Deathstalker and six on the Nevermore seems pretty fair." Deathstalker rapidly approaching.

The others nod, seeing some sense in my strategy. Pyrrha walks over to join us. _I swear Jaune couldn't be luckier if he tried, being partnered with Pyrrha._

"Shall we?" The three of us sprint at the Deathstalker, weapons raised. I still have Comet-Dragon active, and activate Nova-Dusk. Nova-Dusk is a muramasa; a weapon similar to a katana, but sharper and more durable.

I set Comet-Dragon to free-roam, letting it attack nearby creatures or people showing hostility towards its master. The staff shrinks back into the bracelet, leaving only the three spikes visible. No longer bound by the direction of the staff, it zips ahead to the Deathstalker and starts dashing into it repeatedly, trying to break through its heavy armor. It may not damage the scorpion, but the constant force at least slows it down.

Pyrrha pulls ahead of me, flipping forward over the Grimm's head onto its back. She raises her buckle shield and slams it into the Grimm's armor, chipping off bits of bone. Jaune swerves left and starts hacking at the Deathstalker's legs, while I take the right; our right, meaning the scorpion's left—y'know what? It doesn't matter. We each take a side of legs to repeatedly slash until severed.

The Deathstalker screams, more so in annoyance than pain. Apparently, its legs are as strong as its armor, despite having no armor on them. Makes them real tough to cut through.

It starts to kick at us, forcing us to pause our assault. We leap back, avoiding its legs to the best of our ability. One catches Jaune in the chest, sending him sprawling a good twenty feet. Pyrrha seems to be having a much better time, slamming her shield and spear into the Grimm's back over and over again, getting further and further through the armor.

I guess it doesn't feel especially nice to the Deathstalker, as it tries to shake her off, to no avail. Fortunately, at least for the Deathstalker, we forgot about its tail.

"Pyrrha, watch out!" I try to warn her. She spins around just in time to watch the stinger nearly impale her. Comet-Dragon flies in to take the hit, dissolving on impact, but sparing Pyrrha from an early death. The spikes retreat back into their bracelet completely, showing that Comet is now inactive. Comet and Void spiral back up my arm, dormant and awaiting a new command.

Pyrrha leaps off the Deathstalker, breathing heavy. It shakes, screeching at us, as though to intimidate us. It doesn't work.

"We need that tail gone. It's going to kill one of us if we don't get rid of it."

"We could also get the others and leave. I don't think that Nevermore is going to lose anytime soon." Pyrrha points at the others, who have taken to the ruins to hide from Nevermore feathers, which now litter the ground. I frown.

"That may be the better option. Whether they stay there or not, the Nevermore will get bored and come after us. We could handle the Deathstalker alone, but not both at once. We'll try to leave." Jaune runs up to join us. I'm surprised the Deathstalker is just letting this happen. "You and Jaune go tell the others to head for the cliff. I'll keep the Deathstalker here so you can go, I'll catch up."

"No way! You can't fight that thing alone!"

"Not if I want to kill it, but I can certainly annoy it for a couple minutes while my friends escape. Just go, I'm not sure how much longer it'll be polite."

As though waiting for a cue, the scorpion starts running at us. I shove Pyrrha and Jaune to get them moving, then charge the Deathstalker. It swings its claw at me, barely missing as I roll under it, stabbing upward. It screeches in pain, having finally been hurt. I hop up, the Deathstalker turning to face me, its back to the others. Pyrrha and Jaune make it to the group, calling them out of the ruins. They point to me and wave the others forward, running along the clearing.

I return my attention to the Grimm in front of me and jump on its back. I slash Dusk along its armor, making relatively shallow gashes, but I still make them. It rears its tail to stab me, so I drop down flat on its armor. _Go ahead. I dare you._

The Deathstalker doesn't strike, instead trying to shake me off. I grab hold of the armor using the gashes Dusk made. _Fantastic, now I have a Grimm mount that I can't control…_

When I don't fly off, it looks around, confused. It then turns to the cliff just in time to see the rest of our group pass through the trees out of the clearing. I see it too, but I'm also upside-down, with my head above the Grimm's eyes, so it looks like the sky is downward. I flop off the Deathstalker as ungracefully as possible, my mission complete. I disengage Dusk, having all chains dormant, and run like hell.

About fifty feet from the trees, I activate Nova-Chain and launch it to the trees, yanking me forward. I fly through the air, landing in a run. I continue to pull myself forward, catching up to the group with four swings.

"Oh, good, our brilliant leader is here." Weiss remarks.

"Who, me? I ain't leader. You had no obligation to listen to me." I shoot back.

"Wait, where's your partner?" Ruby asks, sounding concerned.

"I don't have one. I'm the only new student that doesn't, nor will I have a team. Twenty-one students doesn't evenly divide into teams of four, there's gotta be one left over. That's me."

"That sounds horrible…"

"Don't worry about it. Focus on the task at hand."

The Deathstalker breaks through the trees behind us, steadily gaining ground. I slow to the back of the group, forming a compacted fire Dust crystal as I go. When the scorpion is about twenty feet away, I slam the Dust into the ground, generating a massive explosion that boosts me forward past the others and stuns the Deathstalker. I slam into the ruins bordering the chasm between us and Beacon Cliff, and fall to the ground.

Rubbing my head, I stand back up and face the chasm. There's a stone spire with broken remnants of a bridge system standing roughly halfway across. A bridge runs from our side of the chasm to the spire, and partially from the spire to the far side of the chasm. There's no standard method of scaling the cliff, so we'll have to make our own. There shouldn't be much of a problem with that, given, well, _us_.

The others catch up just as the Nevermore does, flying through the chasm around the bridges.

"What was that?" Yang questions.

"What was what?"

"That explosion that sent you flying! No way was that natural, so what was it?"

"My semblance. I can explain it later. Again, focus on the task at hand. We've gotta kill the Grimm before we can leave, but how? Clearly the Deathstalker is too much for three of us, but the Nevermore is still flying around, too. We need to change our strategy." The Deathstalker shakes off its confusion and barrels at us once more. "Which we could plan, if we had time, but we don't. This is where we learn to improvise."

"What do you mean—"

The Nevermore's bone-chilling screech drowns out the rest of Weiss's inquiry, forcing us to cover our ears. When it fades, I spawn a crazy idea.

"I _mean_ , improvise! Come up with stuff on the fly, literally if you must. Observe."

I turn and bolt to the chasm, right as the Nevermore passes under the bridge. I leap off the side and grab one of its tail feathers, holding on for dear life. _This chasm is far wider than anticipated. I may have made a mistake, but… I do that all the time anyways._

As the Nevermore turns around, it tries to shake me off its tail. Try as I do to stay on, I fly off, taking a feather with me. _Maybe the only thing strong enough to pierce its defenses is itself…_

I sail into the wall opposite Beacon Cliff, landing feet first. I grip the feather with my left hand and launch Nova-Hook with my right, latching to the spire and jumping off the wall. Swinging around the spire, I ignite the feather with Nova's Dust recipe and throw myself upward.

Landing on the wall of Beacon Cliff, I tether myself with Starpiece, recalling Nova and switching the feather to my right hand. I wait for the Nevermore to pass back under me, then drop on its back, driving the Dusted feather into its back. It recoils with a screech, and I feel I've won, until it rolls me off its back. Fortunately, I land on the spire, where Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang are waiting.

"Why was its feather—"

"Semblance. Kill the bird and I'll answer any question you have with more than one word, but until then, you're getting a lot of repeated answers." I interrupt Ruby mid-question. Seriously, it's like they expect the Grimm to just let us talk. _Didn't the Deathstalker kind of do that to our first fighting squad earlier?_ Oh, hush.

The other half of the group is fighting the Deathstalker, holding their own far better than we did earlier. The girls I'm with take out their ranged weapons and unleash a storm on the Nevermore. I do the same with Void's main weapon.

Void-Spasm is a bow using Void's color scheme, and doesn't need arrows to fire. It can shoot up to five arrows, and has a spike for each one to rest upon on both sides. The string is black as night, and generates luminescent blue arrows when pulled back. When an arrow hits a target, a tracer homes in on the same target, dealing an extra hit with no extra cost.

I send a hail of arrows at the Nevermore, aiding the girls' bullets and Dust bolts. While visually unscathed, the Nevermore's movements slow slightly. _This thing is tough, but not invincible. We need something crazy to beat it, but I can't show what all my weapons are yet, otherwise I lose the reader's interest. What could possibly get us out of this situation alive and successful?_

"Guys, I have a plan." Ruby proposes her plan, which is just crazy enough to work. _My kind of plan._

Yang hops in the Nevermore's beak, holding it open with one hand and shooting Dust bolts into its mouth with the other. The Nevermore slams its back into the Cliff, sliding down a few feet. When it tries to rise, Weiss freezes its tail to the ground. I form a slingshot with Nova and Void, taking off the bracelets and interlocking them. I pull it back, priming the chains to remain static until released, where they'll instantly retract. I help Ruby position herself in the sling.

"Can you make the shot?" She checks.

"I could make this shot in an induced coma. Just do your thing, this is a plan I'm disappointed I didn't come up with. You've got this." I confirm.

She nods, then gives her mark. I release the chains, sending her flying towards the Nevermore. She lands with her scythe on its neck, ready to execute. For flair's sake, Weiss creates a string of glyphs on the Cliff wall going straight up. Ruby runs along each one, reaching the top and completely decapitating the Nevermore. It's truly a sight to behold.

"Well so much for that thing existing." I remark.

* * *

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team CDRL (Cardinal), led by Cardin Winchester." Headmaster Ozpin announces. The audience claps at the third full team's formation. Don't worry, the other two teams will come into play at some other point. How do I know? That's… a good question. One that I shall not answer. I'll let you keep thinking about that.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team JNPR (Juniper), led by Jaune Arc." Jaune looks very confused. "Congratulations, young man." Ozpin offers. Pyrrha punches Jaune in the shoulder good-naturedly, completely knocking him over. The crowd gives some lighthearted laughs at that.

"And, finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long, the four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will be known as team RWBY (Ruby), led by Ruby Rose." Yang grabs her sister in a proud hug, lifting her off the floor a few inches.

The crowd starts to cheer wildly, thinking the ceremony is over. I would be with them, since Ozpin said 'finally' in RWBY's creation. Ozpin, however, gestures for silence.

"While most of our new students have been assigned teammates, one young man was left with neither partner nor teammates this year." I walk on stage, taking my place where the others stood before me. "Kusari Tsuki, you retrieved the black king piece. As you have no team, you will instead be given a title, should you choose to accept one." I nod. "Very well. From this day forward, you will work as 'The Chainslinger'." I bow in acceptance, and the crowd cheers even louder than before.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an… _interesting_ year."

 _Yes, Ozpin, they most certainly are._


End file.
